General: Torrey's Jointfir (Ephedra torreyana) is a mid-sized, upright shrub with many dull, blue-green to gray, apparently leafless stems. Individual twigs come off the stems at widely diverging angles. The leaves are reduced, and photosynthesis takes place in the stems. Leaves are set in whorls of three.

Members of this plant family are cone-bearing plants more closely related to pine trees than to flowering plants. The small cones (about 1/3-inch long) can be seen in the spring when the shrub is flowering. The cones are always sessile, and the seeds are scabrous (rough).

Torrey's Jointfir is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones on lower-elevation, dry, rocky bajadas and canyons.

There are eight species of Jointfir around Las Vegas. Torrey's Jointfir can be recognized by leaves in sets of three; twigs that are blue-green, aging to gray, and come off the main stems at widely diverging angles. Mormon Tea and Nevada Jointfir can be recognized by the two-ranked leaves.

Comments: Tea can be made by steeping the twigs in boiling water. The stems of most members of this genus contain the alkaloid ephedrine and are valuable in the treatment of asthma and other respiratory diseases.

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Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.; Last updated 101106